Edges and Boundaries

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently thinking about boundaries. It started with a creative meditation exercise on the theme of freedom, where I realised that it was boundaries that created a sense of safety that enabled me to flourish and grow. Rather than restricting my behaviour, it was within this protective custody that I was able to become more fully myself.

Great biblical leaders, such as Abraham and Moses crossed boundaries into new territory in response to the call of God and were blessed as a result. Ruth, a Moabite woman, crossed cultural and ethnic boundaries by marrying into the Israelite lineage, ultimately becoming part of the lineage of King David and Jesus, illustrating the potential for the God of love to breaking down barriers. Jesus frequently crossed social and religious boundaries, interacting with those considered unclean or outcast, such as lepers, women, prostitutes and tax collectors. He challenged the established norms of his time, demonstrating God's love and for all.

This week we are hosting a retreat led by Author and Retreat Leader Margaret Silf on the theme of ‘Walking the Edge’. Once again, I find myself exploring the theme of boundaries, those edge places, Margaret has reminded us, are identified as being sacred in the Celtic tradition. They are places of transformation and possibility. That liminal space between the now and the what next, the no longer and the not yet.

As I wonder around our beautiful grounds on what must be one of the hottest summer days of the year, I find myself suddenly more aware of the edges and the fences, the boundaries, and how they are marked. What boundaries am I being invited to cross over? Which gates and styles are becoming me to explore beyond what I have become familiar with? What invisible boundaries hold me back? which fences do I need to break down?

Perhaps these questions also speak to you? What are your edges? - the uncertainties questions or tensions you hold that might also be growing edges?

On the edge of between where all is movement,

where one surface meets another,

where past and future create the present,

where one world meets another,

wherever there is interface,